Ratchet feed for spreaders



Aug. 19,v 1924.

E. C. SMITH RATCHET FEED Fon spgmnsns Filed May 6, 1921 2 SheesSheet 1 Aug. 19,1924

E. C. SMITH RATCHET FEED Fon sPREADERs Filed May 6. 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 19, 19241.l

UNITED TATIES RATCIHET FEED Application aiekfiiuay s,

To all whom #may concern.'

Be it knownthat I, ERNEST C. SM1TH,'a citizen of the `United States, residingfat Chicago, in the county of Cook/and State of Illinois, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Ratchet Feed fory Spreaders, of which the following is afull, clear, and exact specification; n 4My invention relates to manure spreaders of thetype now generally in use, 'and more particularly to a pawl and ratchet drive mechanism .for drivingl the apron of the spreader.

In this type of spreader considerable 'dif-fy ficulty has been experienced in the manipufi lation of the lever which is operated'tc' con-y vzo nect the ratchet feed mechanism withtraction wheels of the spreader. j Heretofore, the pawl and ratchet drive mechanismcould not be shifted into engagement when the spreader was lat a standstill, except under certain lconditions when the spreader had been stopped ina predetermined position. Under these conditions ity was kgenerally necessary to throw the drive mechanism into operation while the spreader was in motion. This sudden engagement impaired Land strained the drivingp'arts and sometimes resulted'in breaking of these parts. y e

One of the objects of my invention is to overcome these difficulties by providing a device which can be thrown into engagement while the spreader is standing. 1 c 'n Another object of my invention is to provide a breakablerocker arm'.` n

A further object is to provide a pawl and ratchet feed mechanism with a breaking rocker arm havingV means fork disengaging the drive and breaking the arm. A still further object is to provide a simple construction having means for-varying the speed of transmission or rendering the transmission idle.

These and otherV objects are attained by providing a breaking rocker Iarm /or mem-r ber having a lever connectedto the pawl and ratchet device fixed to [the conveyor' shaft and a supplemental lever` pivoted" to they first mentioned lever, the free fend. ofk the supplemental lever being connected to a reciprocating 'drive' element actuated by an eccentric on the axle. i

My invention accordingly consists ofthe organization, details of construction and parts hereinafter described, and more paf conveyor or 1,505,612 e, t PATENT: Frick-E.; f

ERNEST c. SMITH, oFcHIcAeQ'ILLINoIs, AssIG'Norv To INTERNATIONAL HARyEsTEB,

f COMPANY, A coRPoRATIoNoF NEWJERSEY; ,i f

non sPREAnERs.

1921. serial 467,361.

ticularlypointed out in the' appended claims. Referring to thejdrawings: Fig. 1 is aside 4elevational vievvjy of a manure spreader embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 isV an enlarged partial top plan view of ther same;

Fig. 3 is an elevational viewl offrig; f

Figli is an enlarged side elevational view showing therocker armbrokeng' Figures and are enlarged detail views showing the twovlevers which goto make up the kbreaking rocker arm; and

Fig. 7 isy an enlarged sectional View taken on the line 7h? of Fig. 3.9 f

My invention is illustratedin connection with a manurespreaderfcomprising ytheusual wheel supported body k10 at the rear of `which is mounteda beater 1l and iasecondary beater 12, 'all driven from the rear axle by mechanism oniv the othery side of the spreader body/andy not shown in Figurel. Partsof the kdraft and ,steering mechanism are Lindicated at 13 atfthe front end 'of the spreader bodyL yNear therear of the body 10 is secured an luprightangle member 14 with one of thewebs ofthe sameextending outwardly. Tothis 'web .is secured a rearwardly `extending, bracket 15' having a stud 16 yextending .laterally" therefrom v and formed integrally therewith. Pivota'lly which .comprises the yfrearfw'vardly extending lever 18 and/a supplemental forwardly extending" lever 19. `The lever 18 is provided ywith la bifurcated portion 120 iny ywhich the `mounted on this studx 16 is vthe rocker arm 17 19 as describedabove is pivoted at its rearward end to the lever 18e'by means of the pin 21. #Adjacent the pivoted point 21 of the .lever 19 isxanlarcuate'slot/SO which yis `adapted to loosely4 receive the stud 16 of the bracketl. f n "y l c vThe mechanism fwhich prevents the breaking of` thenrockerarm, comprises a rspring pressed latch or plunger 31 adapted to protrude through a collar 32 formed centrally and Iintegrally 'with the lever .19.' Slidingly mounted on ribs 33 of the lever 19 is a guide ing member 34 which guidestlie plunger 31 in the normal operation or' breaking and latching the rocker arm. The plunger 31 is normally disposed in the position shown in Figure 5 by means of the spring 35. The guiding member 34 is further provided with two laterally projecting studs 36 adapted to engage the notches 23 `in the lever 18, as shown in Fig'. 3. In this figure the levers 18 and 19 are locked against'pivotal movement with respect to each4 otherand thus permit the transmission of the driving power to operatethe apron of the spreader. The -mechanism -or varying the speed of the conveyor apron of the spreader and the mechanism forv disconnecting the traction Wheels or the rpower from the apron conveyor comprise the forward end of the lever4 1,9, which isprovided with an arcuate slot 3T adapted to receive a bushing or roller 38r journaled kon the rightva-ngularly bent por,- tion 39 ofthe link 40. The right angularly bent portion 39 extends through the pitman straps 41 which are held secure byA means of a cotter 42. The lower ends of the pitman straps 41 are securely fixed to an eccentric ring, 43 by means of bolts 44. The eccentric ring is operatively driven byfmeans'of an eccentric cam 45 which in turn is v splined to the drive shaft 46 by means of a key 47. lThe link is connected to the usual hand lever 48 y and yrack -member 49 positioned within easy reach of the operator.. The free end .of

. the lever 19 is'guided in its movement by a strap 50, `attached to the side of the spreader. From the above description' it will readily 'be seen thatthe rocking of Vthe rocker arm 17 will cause an alternating engagement ,of the pawls 26 with the ratchet wheel 27 ,ai'id'will causera .slow and almostcontinuous rotary movement of theV same to rmove the upper run 'of the apron 29 in a rearward direction. It will also be noted from this construction that as :thelever 48I is swung back to its rearmost position, as shown in Fig. 4, the' roller 38 engages or depresses the plunger 31 in a manner to vdisengagethe studs 3,6 from the notches 23, which in turn releases the lever 19 from the lever 18 and thus permits the lever19 to'oscillate about its pivot 21 and thereby disconnect `the `driving mechanism from actuating the spreader apron. When it is the desire of the opera-tor to'connect the drive mechanism' with the spreader apron, t-he operating lever 48 is swung 'forwardly in a manner to release or to withdraw the roller 38 from the plunger'3v1, at which time the spring 35 forces the lateral projecting studsr36 into engagement with the notches 23 of the lever 18 and thus locking' the lever 19A against pivotal Vmovement' ,with respect to the lever 18 and opera-ting both levers as a single rocker arm.

It will be seen'from the above description that I have-provided a simple and eiicient device and one in which the drive mechanism of the apronspreader may be brought into operation while the spreader is at a standstill, and while I have described the specilic embodiment of my invention, any modification of the same within the scope of the appended claims may befmade. y

`What claim as my invention is:`

1. In a drive mechanism, a breakable rocker arm, a driving element shift'ablyieonnected toy said rockerarlfl,v and means activ. ated byy shifting said driving element or breakingsaid rocker arm. v d 2.' In,` a drive mechanism, a breakable rocker yarm having allatch mounted. thereon for preventing the breaking of said arm, driving element connected to said arm, a nd meansy'forming a connection betweenfsaid driving element and said arm and engageable with said latch for breaking said vrocker ,armL

3. In a drive mechanism, a breakable rocker arm having a latch mounted thereon for preventing the breaking of said arm, a driving. yelement connected to Seid arm,

means Comprising 'e Part of Said driving istv other and means including said drivingelev ment for unlocking lsaid. levers. f

5. In a drive `,mechani,sm, breakable rocker arm, a control mechanism connected to said rocker armor varying thel speed of said rocker armI and means for movingsaid control mechanism in a predeternrineddirection for breaking said rocker arm.'

6, In a drive mechanism, a` driving/ele-4 ment, al 'driven element, control speed mechanism connected therewith, a breakable rocker arm connectingsaid `driving element with said driven element and having a longitudinalslot therein, and means connected to the slot of said rocker arm-for disengaging said driving element from said driven element and breaki'ngisaid arm,

7. In a drive mechanism, a driving ele ment, a kdriven element having a variable speed mechanism connected therewith, a

breakable rockerarm connecting said ldrive ring element with said driven element, and

ment, a driven element, a rocker arm connecting said elements, comprising a pivotally mounted lever and a supplemental lever pivoted to said rst mentioned lever, resilient means for locking said levers and means for disconnecting said elements and breaking said levers.

9. A drive mechanism for spreader aprons comprising a. breakable rocker arm supported between its ends and having one end `formed With an arcuate slot, a reciprocating driving element connecting With Said slot, a driven 'element operatively connected With the other end of said arm, and means for shifting the drive element in said Slot.

In testimony'whereof I aiX my signature.

ERNEST C. SMITH. 

